Assen WSB and WSS, all kicking off

In Race 1 Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team) won his fifth race of the season, showing that he is the rider in the best shape this year so far and that he is a clear early favourite for the Championship.

Tom Sykes (Kawasaki Racing Team), who started from the pole position earned on Saturday, was unable to take advantage of the position and let team mate Jonathan Rea slip by him.

In the seventh lap Michael VD Mark (PATA Honda World Superbike Team) overtook Chaz Davies (Aruba.it Racing-Ducati SBK Team) to move temporarily into the third place that the Ducati rider would take back a lap later.

In the ninth lap the race ended for both of the team VOLTCOM Crescent Suzuki riders, Alex Lowes due to a technical problem and Randy de Puniet due to a crash.

In the tenth lap Chaz Davies, the only one of the riders up front to use the standard SC0 rear tyre, moved into second place after overtaking Tom Sykes, who went on to fall back two more positions in the fourteenth lap, yielding ground to Leon Haslam (Aprilia Racing Team – Red Devils)and Michael VD Mark.

During the sixteenth lap the rider from the Noale-based manufacturer overtook the hometown hero to move into third place, but the Dutchman was having none of it and in the penultimate lap he took back the position he had lost, finishing on the bottom step of the podium. On the home stretch Jonathan Rea was first on his Kawasaki with Chaz Davies putting in an excellent performance behind him on his Ducati and third place going to Michael VD Mark who also took his first Superbike podium in front of his home crowd. Fourth place for Leon Haslam and fifth for Tom Sykes.

Between the two Superbike races the FIM Supersport World Championship race was held with a heated duel on the track and some controversy after the race between Jules Cluzel (MV Agusta Reparto Corse) and Kenan Sofuoglu (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing).

Kyle Smith (Pata Honda World Supersport Team) got off to an excellent start from the fourth spot on the grid, immediately moving into the lead with Kenan Sofuoglu and Jules Cluzel close behind, the latter starting from pole position.

In the third lap Cluzel overtook the Turkish Kawasaki rider to move into second place and then in the fourth lap he also overtook Smith to take the lead. Sofuoglu gave chase, also overtaking the team Honda rider.

In the fifth lap Patrick Jacobsen (Kawasaki Intermoto PonyExpres)also overtook Smith to move into third place behind Cluzel and Sofuoglu but things really got exciting in the tenth lap when Sofuoglu overtook Cluzel to move into the lead.

In the meantime, on the thirteenth lap Smith moved back into the third place that had been snatched from him a few laps earlier by Jacobsen.

In the finale it was a battle for the top step of the podium between Jules Cluzel on his MV Agusta and Kenan Sofuoglu on his Kawasaki. The two riders fought it out down to the end and after a fierce battle under the wire it was Kenan Sofuoglu who won the race with the MV Agusta Frenchman finishing second and Kyle Smith third on his Honda.

This places Kenan Sofuoglu firmly in the lead of the Championship with 80 points and a 25 lead over Patrick Jacobsen and 35 points over Jules Cluzel.

Superbike Race 2 provided excitement on the track but the end result did not change with respect to Race 1. It was Jonathan Rea who triumphed once again on his Kawasaki, followed by Chaz Davies on his Ducati and Michael VD Mark on his Honda. Behind them, just like Race 1, were Leon Haslam and Tom Sykes.

Rea got off the line well and took the race lead but Sykes was having none of it and by the end of the first lap he had taken it back. Behind them was Leon Haslam who was overtaken in the second lap by Chaz Davies.

In the eleventh lap the Ducati rider managed to get by Jonathan Rea to move into second place, where he would finish the race. But the Northern Irishman wouldn’t have it and by the twelfth lap he overtook Davies and then a lap later he passed his team mate as well, moving back into the lead.

Tom Sykes, now running second, was overtaken during the fourteenth by Chaz Davies as well, and in the following lap Dutchman Michael VD Mark and Leon Haslam also got past, relegating him to fifth place.

A fast pack was created at the front made up of Rea, Haslam, Davies and VD Mark. Just metres from the home stretch, like in Race 1, the Dutchman managed to defy the standard bearer from the Noale-based manufacturer to take the bottom step of the podium the second time in one day.